US-based firm ROC-Connect have released an IoT platform for the home insurance industry.

The solution promises to provide a means for insurance providers to enter the smart home market and deploy turnkey solutions that can drive customer growth and retention while reducing liabilities and risks.

The cloud-based platform connects to a smart home hub. The hub supports a number of existing smart home platforms, including HomeKit, OnHub, SmartThings, Zigbee and ZWave.

The hub also provides wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity of smart home devices.

Together with the hardware, the open API architecture allows insurance providers to define their own insurance product offerings, and develop their own apps.

“The Internet of Things is all about accessing data, and this data is going to be particularly important to insurers who have traditionally based their pricing on understanding risk,” ROC-Connect’s senior vice president of business development Kevin Meagher told IoT Hub.

“Logically, if a competitor has better data on which to base their risk judgements, they will have a competitive edge.

“[ROC-Connect] thought that the bigger opportunity was enabling insurers to be able to use data to reinvent how they engage with customers and generate revenues.”

Meagher is hopeful that insurance providers use IoT to bundle products and services that deliver more value and engage customers on a daily basis.

Meagher claimed that ROC-Connect’s home insurance platform has garnered interest from numerous insurance companies in Australasia.

Increased interest in smart home IoT technologies among insurers is not surprising, given that some companies are already leveraging other IoT technologies such as wearables to augment their insurance products.

Meagher believes that IoT and smart home technology has the potential to be a game changer for the home insurance industry, but points out that companies must act soon.

“The Internet of Things will have a profound impact on our daily lives and ultimately change the way we interact with our environment,” he said.

“But I think the insurance industry will face a real threat if they fail to adapt and embrace the Internet of Things and the smart home.”